What We're Looking For:A transformational engineering leader who brings innovation and human-centered thinking to how Index Exchange builds and ships software. This person owns architecture and delivery of Index Exchange's Developer Experience and Release Engineering capabilities, driving the transformation from siloed, human-gated software delivery to a fully gated Software Development Life Cycle capable of handling both human and agentic development at scale.
This role leads a globally distributed engineering team, architects the automated and agent-evaluated gates that verify software quality and release readiness, and partners closely with peer Quality & Delivery leaders to jointly sequence and deliver a shared transformation agenda.
Core ResponsibilitiesFunctional & Delivery Leadership- Own architecture and delivery of Developer Experience and Release Engineering, elevating both from foundational capability to a demonstrably mature, industry-leading practice.
- Architect deterministic and agent-evaluated gates across the Define, Build, Verify, Release, and Operate states of the software delivery lifecycle, including policy-as-code enforcement, contract testing, mutation scoring, and SLO-driven progressive delivery with error budgets and automated rollbacks.
- Partner with peer engineering leaders across Quality & Delivery to jointly architect and sequence the gated SDLC roadmap, ensuring Developer Experience, and Release Engineering practices integrate cleanly with adjacent Test Engineering and Application Services capabilities.
- Bring a demonstrated history of transformation in Release Engineering with a clear, independent point of view on where discipline needs to go next.
- Assess current-state Developer Experience and release practices, tooling, and workflows to identify friction, gaps, and opportunities, and translate findings into prioritized, actionable plans.
Operational Excellence- Foster continuous, iterative collaboration within the Engineering organization to make Developer Experience and Release Engineering first class components of the culture and processes.
- Own planning, execution, and delivery outcomes for Developer Experience and Release Engineering
- Apply appropriate governance, standards, and policy-as-code practices to centralize tooling, pipelines, and enablement functions.
- Use delivery and quality metrics (e.g., change failure rate, lead time, deployment frequency, MTTR, or equivalent DORA/SPACE-aligned measures) to evaluate the effectiveness of gates and controls and drive continuous improvement.
- Identify and proactively manage delivery risk, release risk, and cross-team dependencies as the organization moves toward a fully gated, agentic-capable SDLC.
People Leadership & Global Collaboration- Drive adoption of new standards or tooling across teams.
- Communicate findings, recommendations, plans, and progress clearly to technical and non-technical audiences, including senior leadership
- Recruit, onboard, and develop engineers across Toronto and Bengaluru.
- Set clear expectations, provide regular feedback, and actively manage performance and career growth.
- Foster a collaborative, inclusive team culture across time zones and regions.
Here's What You Need:- Bachelor's or master's degree in computer science, Engineering, or equivalent experience.
- 12+ years of experience in commercial software development environments.
- 5+ years of engineering management experience leading delivery-focused teams.
- Applied, hands-on experience architecting policy-as-code enforcement and SLO-driven progressive delivery (e.g., contract-broker deploy gates, error-budget-based release throttling, automated rollbacks).
- Experience architecting or directing both deterministic and agent-evaluated automated gates within a software delivery pipeline.
- Experience engaging stakeholders and conducting discovery or assessment work to evaluate current-state practices and identify gaps.
- Strong analytical and synthesis skills, with the ability to translate ambiguous inputs into clear problem statements and actionable plans.
- Demonstrated success leading globally distributed teams across multiple time zones.
- Excellent communication skills and the ability to operate effectively in a matrixed organization, partnering with leaders across the organization.
Why you'll love working here:- Comprehensive health, dental, and vision plans for you and your dependents
- Paid time off, health days, and personal obligation days plus flexible work schedules
- Competitive retirement matching plans
- Equity packages
- Generous parental leave available to birthing, non-birthing, and adoptive parents
- Annual well-being allowance plus fitness discounts and group wellness activities
- Commuter benefits and discounts, where available
- Employee assistance program
- Mental health first aid program that provides an in-the-moment point of contact and reassurance
- One day of volunteer time off per year and a donation-matching program
- Monthly town halls and regular community-led team events
- Multiple resources and programming to support continuous learning
- A workplace that supports a diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment - learn more here
Index everywhere, Index anywhereOur corporate headquarters are in Toronto, with major offices in New York, Montreal, Kitchener, London, San Francisco, and many other global cities. As a major global advertising exchange, we are committed to operating as a tightly knit global team and embracing and empowering talent wherever our colleagues may be.
AI Disclaimer: Automated tools including artificial intelligence may be used to assist in screening and assessing applicants for this role. All hiring decisions involve human review.
Vacancy Status: This posting is for an existing vacancy.
